St Abbs lifeboat rescue: Scottish wild swimmers urged to wear wet suit despite heat after 'unresponsive swimmer' rescued from water near east coast fishing village

The RNLI has urged people to wear wet suits despite the heat after an unresponsive swimmer got into difficulty at a bay in the east coast of Scotland and was taken to hospital.

The unresponsive swimmer was rescued from the water at Coldingham Bay (Photo: St Abbs lifeboat).

St Abbs lifeboat was requested to launch by the coastguard at approximately 10.45am on Monday following reports of an unresponsive swimmer at Coldingham Bay near St Abbs.

The RNLI and a coastguard helicopter also attended the scene.

Although the casualty was unresponsive when taken from the water, St Abbs lifeboats noted that they had recovered ‘sufficiently’.

The Coastguard Helicopter was stood down and the casualty was taken to the Borders Hospital by the Scottish Ambulance Service.

A St Abbs Lifeboat spokesman said: “Three members of the lifeboat went ashore and stabilised the casualty in conjunction with the Lifeguards- a good all round multi agency shout.

Katie Walker an RNLI lifeguard at Coldingham Bay said: “Earlier this morning we assisted a swimmer who was struggling having completed their swim.

"There was no need for us to provide any additional help other than ensuring they were warm enough but they were passed into the care of the Scottish Ambulance Service just to make sure they were fully recovered.

"The water can be a lot colder than people expect at this time of year so we’d always recommend wearing a wet suit for longer swims.

"Even though we’re experiencing a mini heatwave, the water temperatures around Scotland remain chilly and rarely rise above ten degrees Celsius.

"However this swimmer had done the right thing by choosing a lifeguarded beach and we are always happy to help those in need.”

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